State of Progress
Pragmatic articles on software development and management
A few thoughts on focus
For the last few years I take considerable vacation every August — 2 weeks minimum. It helps me relax, rejuvenate and think.
Too many upgrades is a downgrade
Getting distracted by the very same tools you use to do your job in your every day work is really new to our species. Our brain has been developed for hundreds of years with non-intrusive tools. The pen and paper on an architects office, would never pop up a notification to let you know about their new versions. Neither would the hammer in a blacksmith’s workshop. On the other side though, we are getting constant “update notifications” from our own tools, when we work. These notifications are the exact distractions that is the arch enemy of focus in creativity. We are not and should never get used to that.
LOGIC is hiring a Web Developer
We are thrilled to announce that we are looking to hire a Web Developer at LOGIC. LOGIC is the company through which and are pursuing exciting projects.
The role of software
A few weeks ago I ordered a cab through an app to get me back to my hotel from a visit at a friend's house in London. Two peculiar things happened at this moment. First, the driver pretended to pick me up and then completed the ride immediately, so they could get the minimum £4 tariff — I will not deal with this right now. Next, the app charged me an additional £15 “technology fee” — that is what I want to talk about.
LOGIC is hiring a Junior Web Developer
nior Web Developer at LOGIC, the new company through which and are pursuing exciting projects.
Putting a price on decisions
A whole lot of things happen at work these days — mostly good ones. As a result, I need to take more and more decisions day by day and the fear of can always creep in.
The Minimum Viable Product virtue
I love the idea of the minimum viable product. Identifying what is absolutely necessary for launching a new viable product and building it timely with discipline within a tight timeframe is a virtue.
Don’t surround yourself with people better than you
There is this postmodern motivational advice that I seriously despise; “Surround yourself with people better than you”. What disgusts me more about it, is how it cultivates parasitic personalities and camouflaged egocentrism. Fuck that!
Relinquish control
A fundamental skill in software development is realising when you have to relinquish control and actually doing it.
Welcoming ≠ Accepting
Yesterday I witnessed impolite behavior by an contributor. The issue started when they voluntarily opened up a Pull Request that we were skeptical about accepting.
Hype is ruining software
Every so often, I see developers getting excited about something new that just came up. This can be anything from a new machine learning tool to a front-end framework, containers, lambdas etc.